Apparatus and method for protecting message data

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a method for protecting message data. In the method, the message data is padded with padding bits generated based on a deterministic function performed on the message data. The padded message data is compressed to generate compressed data. A length of the compressed data is dependent on the padding bits. The compressed data is encrypted to generate encrypted message data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/764,524, filed Feb. 11, 2013, which application claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/701,384, filed Sep. 14, 2012, whichapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates generally to protecting message data thatis compressed and encrypted.

2. Background

An attack may be made on a secure connection (for example, SSL/TLS) thatuses compression because the length of the encrypted and compressedmessage may be exploited to discover information. When an attacker cancontrol some text in the uncompressed message, the attacker can cyclethrough digits (or bytes) until he finds one that results in theshortest encrypted message. For example, an encrypted message mayinclude a tag like “secret=4528715.” When the attacker's inserteduncompressed message is “secret=4”, the compression will be better thanfor the other possible digits, such as “secret=0”, and thus the lengthof the encrypted message will be shorter. After discovering the firstdigit, the attacker can cycle through the next possible digits (orbytes) until he finds one that results in a shorter length, e.g.“secret=45”. The attacker can then cycle through the next digit (orbyte), until all of the sensitive information has been discovered.

There is therefore a need for a technique for protecting a message thatis both compressed and encrypted such that the length of the compressedmessage can not be determined from the compressed and encrypted datastream.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention may reside in a method for protectingmessage data. In the method, the message data is padded with paddingbits generated based on a deterministic function performed on themessage data. The padded message data is compressed to generatecompressed data. A length of the compressed data is dependent on thepadding bits. The compressed data is encrypted to generate encryptedmessage data.

In more detailed aspects of the invention, the deterministic functionmay include a hash function. The padding bits may be prefixed orprepended to the message data. The padding bits may be constrained toallow an end of the padding bits to be determined by a receiver.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station,comprising: means for padding message data with padding bits generatedbased on a deterministic function performed on the message data; meansfor compressing the padded message data to generate compressed data,wherein a length of the compressed data is dependent on the paddingbits; and means for encrypting the compressed data to generate encryptedmessage data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station,comprising: a processor configured to: pad message data with paddingbits generated based on a deterministic function performed on themessage data; compress the padded message data to generate compresseddata, wherein a length of the compressed data is dependent on thepadding bits; and encrypt the compressed data to generate encryptedmessage data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a computer programproduct, comprising: computer-readable medium, comprising: code forcausing a computer to pad message data with padding bits generated basedon a deterministic function performed on the message data; code forcausing a computer to compress the padded message data to generatecompressed data, wherein a length of the compressed data is dependent onthe padding bits; and code for causing a computer to encrypt thecompressed data to generate encrypted message data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a method for protectingmessage data. In the method, a compression parameter value of acompression algorithm is selected using a deterministic functionperformed on the message data. The message data is compressed using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value togenerate compressed data. A length of the compressed data is dependenton the compression parameter value. The compressed data is encrypted togenerate encrypted message data.

In more detailed aspects of the invention, the compression parametervalue may be a maximum chain length value. The deterministic functionmay include a hash function. Compressing the message data may comprisepadding the message data with a number of padding bits selected based onthe deterministic function to generate padded message data, andgenerating the compressed data by using the compression algorithm andthe selected compression parameter value on the padded message data. Thepadding bits may be prefixed to the message data. The padding bits maybe constrained to allow an end of the padding bits to be determined by areceiver.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station,comprising: means for selecting a compression parameter value of acompression algorithm using a deterministic function performed onmessage data; means for compressing the message data using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value togenerate compressed data, wherein a length of the compressed data isdependent on the compression parameter value; and means for encryptingthe compressed data to generate encrypted message data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station,comprising: a processor configured to: select a compression parametervalue of a compression algorithm using a deterministic functionperformed on message data; compress the message data using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value togenerate compressed data, wherein a length of the compressed data isdependent on the compression parameter value; and encrypt the compresseddata to generate encrypted message data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a computer programproduct, comprising: computer-readable medium, comprising: code forcausing a computer to select a compression parameter value of acompression algorithm using a deterministic function performed onmessage data; code for causing a computer to compress the message datausing the compression algorithm and the selected compression parametervalue to generate compressed data, wherein a length of the compresseddata is dependent on the compression parameter value; and code forcausing a computer to encrypt the compressed data to generate encryptedmessage data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a method for protectingmessage data. In the method, the message data is compressed to generatecompressed data comprising a first number of data bytes. The compresseddata is padded to generate padded compressed data comprising a secondnumber of data bytes, wherein the second number is equal to the firstnumber plus a pad number of data bytes, and the pad number of data bytesis determined based on a hash of the message data. The padded compresseddata is encrypted to generate encrypted message data.

In more detailed aspects of the invention, the hash of the message datamay be a keyed hash of the message data. The keyed hash of the messagedata may be performed using a Hashing for Message Authentication (HMAC)cryptographic hash function, and may use an obfuscation key derivedusing a key derivation function. The obfuscation key may be generatedfrom an exchanged secret value. The key derivation function may use anencryption key and an authentication key to generate the obfuscationkey. The encryption key and the authentication key may be generated froman exchanged secret value, and from a plurality of non-secret values.The pad number of data bytes may comprise a number from 1 to 32.

In other more detailed aspects of the invention, padding the compresseddata to generate padded compressed data may comprise using a compressionalgorithm modified based on a deterministic function of the messagedata. The message data may comprise a Transport Layer Security (TLS)protocol message, or a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol message.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station,comprising: means for compressing message data to generate compresseddata comprising a first number of data bytes; means for padding thecompressed data to generate padded compressed data comprising a secondnumber of data bytes, wherein the second number is equal to the firstnumber plus a pad number of data bytes, and the pad number of data bytesis determined based on a hash of the message data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station,comprising: a processor configured to: compress message data to generatecompressed data comprising a first number of data bytes; pad thecompressed data to generate padded compressed data comprising a secondnumber of data bytes, wherein the second number is equal to the firstnumber plus a pad number of data bytes, and the pad number of data bytesis determined based on a hash of the message data.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a computer programproduct, comprising: computer-readable medium, comprising: code forcausing a computer to compress message data to generate compressed datacomprising a first number of data bytes; code for causing a computer topad the compressed data to generate padded compressed data comprising asecond number of data bytes, wherein the second number is equal to thefirst number plus a pad number of data bytes, and the pad number of databytes is determined based on a hash of the message data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a wireless communicationsystem.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for protecting message data,according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of data in a method for protecting messagedata.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer including a processor and amemory.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of another method for protecting message data,according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of data in another method for protectingmessage data.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of another method for protecting message data,according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of data in another method for protectingmessage data.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of data in another method for protectingmessage data.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of data in another method for protectingmessage data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, an aspect of the present invention mayreside in a method 200 for protecting message data 310. In the method,the message data is padded with padding bits 320 generated based on adeterministic function 330 performed on the message data (step 210). Thepadded message data 335 is compressed to generate compressed data 340(step 220). A length of the compressed data is dependent on the paddingbits. The compressed data is encrypted to generate encrypted messagedata 350 (step 230). An encryption function 380 uses an encryption keyto encrypt the compressed data. The method secures a message that isboth compressed and encrypted such that the length of the compressedmessage can not be determined from the compressed and encrypted datastream.

In more detailed aspects of the invention, the deterministic function330 may include a hash function. A padding generator 360 takes a fewbits from the hash function to determine the length of the paddedmessage. The bits from the hash function are random-like. As a result,the compressed data 350 has a random-like length. Also, the bits fromthe hash function will not be compressed away to almost nothing becauseof the random-like nature of these bits from the hash function. Thepadding bits 320 may be prefixed or prepended to the message data 310.

The padding bits 320 may be constrained to allow an end of the paddingbits to be determined by a receiver. For example, the most significantbit of all padding bytes but the last may be forced to 0, and the mostsignificant bit of the last byte may be forced to 1. The messagereceiver will be able to determine the end of the padding by thispattern. As another example, the length of the padding may be put in thefirst 5 bits. (Assuming the maximum length is 32 bytes.) The rest of thebits may come from the hash function 330. A compression function 370 anda compression parameter value 390 are described below with respect toFIG. 6.

With further reference to FIG. 4, another aspect of the invention mayreside in a remote station 102, comprising: means 410 for paddingmessage data 310 with padding bits 320 generated based on adeterministic function 330 performed on the message data; means 410 forcompressing the padded message data 335 to generate compressed data 340,wherein a length of the compressed data is dependent on the paddingbits; and means 410 for encrypting the compressed data to generateencrypted message data 350.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station 102,comprising: a processor 410 configured to: pad message data 310 withpadding bits 320 generated based on a deterministic function 330performed on the message data; compress the padded message data 335 togenerate compressed data 340, wherein a length of the compressed data isdependent on the padding bits; and encrypt the compressed data togenerate encrypted message data 350.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a computer programproduct, comprising: computer-readable medium 420, comprising: code forcausing a computer 400 to pad message data 310 with padding bits 320generated based on a deterministic function performed on the messagedata; code for causing a computer to compress the padded message data335 to generate compressed data 340, wherein a length of the compresseddata is dependent on the padding bits; and code for causing a computer400 to encrypt the compressed data to generate encrypted message data350.

With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, another aspect of the invention mayreside in a method 500 for protecting message data 610. In the method, acompression parameter value 690 of a compression algorithm of acompression function 670 is selected using a deterministic function 630performed on the message data (step 510). The message data is compressedusing the compression algorithm and the selected compression parametervalue to generate compressed data 640 (step 520). A length of thecompressed data is dependent on the compression parameter value. Thecompressed data is encrypted to generate encrypted message data 650(step 530). An encryption function 680 uses an encryption key and anencryption algorithm to encrypt the compressed data.

In more detailed aspects of the invention, the compression parametervalue may be a maximum chain length value. The deterministic functionmay include a hash function 630. A compression function 670 may makemany choices during compression. The DEFLATE function, commonly used incompression of data on the web, has a parameter that indicates howaggressive the compression should be, with a range from 0 to 9. A fewbits may be taken from the hash function, reduced into that range, andpassed into a call to the compression function. This would cause thecompression function behave differently if anything was changed in themessage data.

In the DEFLATE function, several values may be used as internal tuningparameters: good_length, max_lazy, nice_length, and max_chain. Themax_chain value, for example, controls the longest chain it will lookfor, etc. The DEFLATE function may be modified to accept these tuningparameters individually instead of as a single integer between 0 and 9that is selected from a table. The tuning parameters may be selectedusing some of the bits from the output of the hash function 630.

Compressing the message data 610 may comprise padding the message datawith a number of padding bits selected based on the deterministicfunction to generate padded message data, and generating the compresseddata 640 by using the compression algorithm and the selected compressionparameter value on the padded message data. The padding bits may beprefixed to the message data. The padding bits may be constrained toallow an end of the padding bits to be determined by a receiver.Randomizing the padding and/or the compression effectiveness may protectagainst such length-leakage type attacks.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station 102,comprising: means 410 for selecting a compression parameter value 690 ofa compression algorithm using a deterministic function 630 performed onmessage data 610; means 410 for compressing the message data using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value togenerate compressed data 640, wherein a length of the compressed data isdependent on the compression parameter value; and means for encryptingthe compressed data to generate encrypted message data 650.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station 102,comprising: a processor 410 configured to: select a compressionparameter value 690 of a compression algorithm using a deterministicfunction 630 performed on message data 610; compress the message datausing the compression algorithm and the selected compression parametervalue to generate compressed data 640, wherein a length of thecompressed data is dependent on the compression parameter value; andencrypt the compressed data to generate encrypted message data 650.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a computer programproduct, comprising: computer-readable medium 420, comprising: code forcausing a computer 400 to select a compression parameter value 690 of acompression algorithm using a deterministic function 630 performed onmessage data 610; code for causing a computer to compress the messagedata using the compression algorithm and the selected compressionparameter value to generate compressed data 640, wherein a length of thecompressed data is dependent on the compression parameter value; andcode for causing a computer to encrypt the compressed data to generateencrypted message data 650.

With reference to FIGS. 7-10, another aspect of the invention may residein a method 700 for protecting message data 810. In the method, themessage data is compressed to generate compressed data 840 comprising afirst number of data bytes (step 710). The compressed data is padded togenerate padded compressed data 835 comprising a second number of databytes 837, wherein the second number is equal to the first number plus apad number of data bytes, and the pad number of data bytes is determinedbased on a hash of the message data (step 720). The padded compresseddata is encrypted to generate encrypted message data 850 (step 730).

In more detailed aspects of the invention, the hash 830 of the messagedata 810 may be a keyed hash 935 of the message data. The keyed hash ofthe message data may be performed using a Hashing for MessageAuthentication (HMAC) cryptographic hash function, and may use anobfuscation key derived using a key derivation function. The obfuscationkey may be generated from an exchanged secret value. The key derivationfunction may use an encryption key and an authentication key to generatethe obfuscation key. The encryption key and the authentication key maybe generated from an exchanged secret value, and from a plurality ofnon-secret values. The pad number of data bytes may comprise a numberfrom 1 to 32.

A hash or similar function of the uncompressed text 810 may be computed.From the hash value the length of some padding 837 may be determined bysome arithmetic or logical operation. For example, the operation may usejust the last significant 5 bits of the hash. This will be a numberbetween 0 and 31, which would be the number of bytes of padding 837 thatmay be added. This technique will frustrate this type of attack, as thelength will vary by many bytes on each trial digit, and the correct oneis unlikely to be the shortest. The hash function may include a secret,such as the obfuscation key. HMAC is a hash-like function that includesa secret (sometimes HMAC is called a keyed hash).

The secret may be derived as part of the session establishment. It iscommon to derive an encryption key and an authentication key duringsession establishment, which keys may be used to derive thelength-obfuscation key. The length-obfuscation key would be part of thecomputation of the length of the padding. Since the attacker does notknow the length-obfuscation key, he cannot compute the length of thepadding.

An aspect may involve modifying the operation of the compressionfunction. Compression functions generally make many decisions. Forexample, the compression function often builds “dictionaries” ofrecently encountered strings. But since storage is limited, at frequentintervals, one or more entries in the dictionary must be discarded. Theleast recently seen string is often the choice for discarding. However,the choice may be made to depend on the hash of the message. In apractical compression algorithm, there may be many other choices thatmay be made. Making some or all of these choice to depend on the hash(or keyed hash) of the message may introduce a lot of “noise” into thelength.

In practical secure communication systems, there is a protocol thatexchanges a secret value, commonly called the pre-master secret, andthen uses a key derivation function to combine that with severalnonsecret values, so as to generate an encryption key and anauthentication key. A third key, such as the padding obfuscation key,may be derived from the encryption key and an authentication key.

In other more detailed aspects of the invention, padding the compresseddata 840 to generate padded compressed data may comprise using acompression algorithm 845 modified based on a deterministic function ofthe message data 810. The message data may comprise a Transport LayerSecurity (TLS) protocol message, or a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocolmessage. The hash function 830, the padding generator 860, and theencryption function 880, are described above with respect to FIG. 3. Thepad number may be determined based on a random number from a randomnumber generator 1035.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station 102,comprising: means 410 for compressing message data 810 to generatecompressed data 840 comprising a first number of data bytes; means 410for padding the compressed data to generate padded compressed data 835comprising a second number of data bytes, wherein the second number isequal to the first number plus a pad number of data bytes, and the padnumber of data bytes is determined based on a hash of the message data;and means 410 for encrypting the padded compressed data to generateencrypted message data 850.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a remote station 102,comprising: a processor 410 configured to: compress message data 810 togenerate compressed data 840 comprising a first number of data bytes;pad the compressed data to generate padded compressed data 835comprising a second number of data bytes, wherein the second number isequal to the first number plus a pad number of data bytes, and the padnumber of data bytes is determined based on a hash of the message data;and encrypt the padded compressed data to generate encrypted messagedata 850.

Another aspect of the invention may reside in a computer programproduct, comprising: computer-readable medium 420, comprising: code forcausing a computer 400 to compress message data 810 to generatecompressed data 840 comprising a first number of data bytes; code forcausing a computer to pad the compressed data to generate paddedcompressed data 835 comprising a second number of data bytes, whereinthe second number is equal to the first number plus a pad number of databytes, and the pad number of data bytes is determined based on a hash ofthe message data; and code for causing a computer to encrypt the paddedcompressed data to generate encrypted message data 850.

The remote station 102 may comprise a computer 400 that includes aprocessor 410, a storage medium 420 such as memory and/or a disk drive,a display 430, and an input such as a keypad 440, and a wirelessconnection 450.

With reference to FIG. 1, a wireless remote station (RS) 102 (e.g. amobile station MS) may communicate with one or more base stations (BS)104 of a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communicationsystem 100 may further include one or more base station controllers(BSC) 106, and a core network 108. Core network may be connected to anInternet 110 and a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 112 viasuitable backhauls. A typical wireless mobile station may include ahandheld phone, or a laptop computer. The wireless communication system100 may employ any one of a number of multiple access techniques such ascode division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access(TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), space divisionmultiple access (SDMA), polarization division multiple access (PDMA), orother modulation techniques known in the art.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processorcan read information from, and write information to, the storage medium.In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC mayreside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and thestorage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software as a computer program product, the functionsmay be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or codeon a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes bothnon-transitory computer-readable storage media and communication mediaincluding any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer programfrom one place to another. A storage media may be any available mediathat can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carryor store desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if thesoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for protecting message data, comprising:selecting a compression parameter value of a compression algorithm usinga deterministic function performed on the message data; compressing themessage data using the compression algorithm and the selectedcompression parameter value to generate compressed data, wherein alength of the compressed data is dependent on the compression parametervalue; and encrypting the compressed data to generate encrypted messagedata.
 2. A method for protecting message data as defined in claim 1,wherein the compression parameter value is a maximum chain length value.3. A method for protecting message data as defined in claim 1, whereinthe deterministic function includes a hash function.
 4. A method forprotecting message data as defined in claim 1, wherein compressing themessage data comprises: padding the message data with a number ofpadding bits selected based on the deterministic function to generatepadded message data; and generating the compressed data by using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value onthe padded message data.
 5. A method for protecting message data asdefined in claim 4, wherein the padding bits are prefixed to the messagedata.
 6. A method for protecting message data as defined in claim 4,wherein the padding bits are constrained to allow an end of the paddingbits to be determined by a receiver.
 7. A remote station, comprising:means for selecting a compression parameter value of a compressionalgorithm using a deterministic function performed on message data;means for compressing the message data using the compression algorithmand the selected compression parameter value to generate compresseddata, wherein a length of the compressed data is dependent on thecompression parameter value; and means for encrypting the compresseddata to generate encrypted message data.
 8. A remote station as definedin claim 7, wherein the compression parameter value is a maximum chainlength value.
 9. A remote station as defined in claim 7, wherein thedeterministic function includes a hash function.
 10. A remote station asdefined in claim 7, wherein the means for compressing the message datacomprises: means for padding the message data with a number of paddingbits selected based on the deterministic function to generate paddedmessage data; and means for generating the compressed data by using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value onthe padded message data.
 11. A remote station as defined in claim 10,wherein the padding bits are prefixed to the message data.
 12. A remotestation as defined in claim 10, wherein the padding bits are constrainedto allow an end of the padding bits to be determined by a receiver. 13.A remote station, comprising: a processor configured to: select acompression parameter value of a compression algorithm using adeterministic function performed on message data; compress the messagedata using the compression algorithm and the selected compressionparameter value to generate compressed data, wherein a length of thecompressed data is dependent on the compression parameter value; andencrypt the compressed data to generate encrypted message data.
 14. Aremote station as defined in claim 13, wherein the compression parametervalue is a maximum chain length value.
 15. A remote station as definedin claim 13, wherein the deterministic function includes a hashfunction.
 16. A remote station as defined in claim 13, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: pad the message data with a numberof padding bits selected based on the deterministic function to generatepadded message data; and generate the compressed data by using thecompression algorithm and the selected compression parameter value onthe padded message data.
 17. A remote station as defined in claim 16,wherein the padding bits are prefixed to the message data.
 18. A remotestation as defined in claim 16, wherein the padding bits are constrainedto allow an end of the padding bits to be determined by a receiver. 19.A computer program product, comprising: computer-readable medium,comprising: code for causing a computer to select a compressionparameter value of a compression algorithm using a deterministicfunction performed on message data; code for causing a computer tocompress the message data using the compression algorithm and theselected compression parameter value to generate compressed data,wherein a length of the compressed data is dependent on the compressionparameter value; and code for causing a computer to encrypt thecompressed data to generate encrypted message data.
 20. A computerprogram product as defined in claim 19, wherein the compressionparameter value is a maximum chain length value.
 21. A computer programproduct as defined in claim 19, wherein the deterministic functionincludes a hash function.
 22. A computer program product as defined inclaim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to: pad themessage data with a number of padding bits selected based on thedeterministic function to generate padded message data; and generate thecompressed data by using the compression algorithm and the selectedcompression parameter value on the padded message data.
 23. A computerprogram product as defined in claim 22, wherein the padding bits areprefixed to the message data.
 24. A computer program product as definedin claim 22, wherein the padding bits are constrained to allow an end ofthe padding bits to be determined by a receiver.